Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Anderson, L. H. (1999). Speak. New York: Penguin Group.

Melinda Scardino, a high school freshman, starts school with much anxiety because she recently called the police to raid a summer high school party. Throughout her freshman year she is shunned, ridiculed, and isolated by the many “clans” in the school. Melinda was sexually assaulted at the party and the incident causes Melinda to isolate herself, earn poor grades, and refuse to communicate with those at school and her parents at home. Melinda kept silent about the assault because she was having extreme difficulty dealing with it emotionally and psychologically. Finally, she empowered herself to “fight back” and end her silence by telling her story and thus becoming stronger than others around her. This realistic fiction text illustrates contemporary issues, such as sexual assault, teens face and how tough it can be for a teenager to fit in to the social scene in high school. Toss in the fact that the teenager had been sexually assaulted at a summer party made the situation worse. Finding strength within is a theme depicted in the book. Melinda’s journey through the school year was tough for her, but finally she became strong enough to speak out for herself. The book is organized into school marking periods and different events in each marking period. The main character, Melinda, tells the story from her point of view. Her silence is shown by blank spaces when conversations are written. Here is a book trailer: https://youtu.be/fv3FelRmk3Y